Taleban ‘cheered’ by US pull-out declaration

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President Obama’s declaration that he wants US troops to start pulling out of
Afghanistan from next July has given “sustenance” to the Taleban, the head
of the US Marine Corps said yesterday.

General James Conway, who has just returned from a trip to see the US Marines
serving in Helmand and Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, said: “The July 11
issue, in some ways we think right now it’s probably giving our enemy
sustenance. We’ve intercepted communications that say, ‘Hey we only have to
hold out for so long’.”